NAFSA celebrates resilience, renewal and community during global conference

In her opening address, NAFSA Association of International Educators President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Dr LaNitra Berger, noted that New Orleans was the perfect location for the global event, a city synonymous with recovery and resurgence, and she welcomed the 9,000 strong delegation, 40 per cent of which were from outside the US.

Dr Fanta Aw, Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA, highlighted several initiatives during the opening plenary, including the global rollout of new certificate program to guide the professional development of international educators from all over the world. Announced in London earlier in May, more than 400 educators from across the globe have already registered their interest in the International Education Professional Certificate (IEPC) course, she said, which is a collaborative effort with Common Purpose and Times Higher Education .

Dr Aw highlighted steps NAFSA is taking to make US higher education more welcoming to more diverse groups of international students through its involvement with the US for Success Coalition group. However, visa processing times need improving, she said, if the country is to take advantage of its position as the most welcoming destination for international students, compared with competitor markets the UK, Australia, and Canada, all of which have tightened visa policies surrounding international students in the past year.

As such she urged US-based delegates to press representatives in congress to expand visa processing capacity and address high visa denial rates in the global south. Interested parties can sign up here.

Former international student and founder of Duolingo , Luis von Ahn, was a guest during the opening plenary and highlighted how the free language learning app is helping to democratize learning by making it accessible to all. There are now more people in the US learning English on the Duolingo app than in high schools across the whole of the United States, he said.

Programming over the four-day event covered all areas of international education, including Global Trends, Advocacy, Recruitment and Enrolment, Sustainability, and Technology, as well as Wellness, Regulatory Complexities and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Trends in international student movement and efforts to increase mobility to the US were reviewed in a Recruitment & Enrolment session, featuring Institute of International Education (IIE) CEO, Allan E. Goodman. With the UK, Canada and Australia all adjusting legislation relating to international students in the last year, the world just got a whole lot smaller, he said, and he highlighted that the US HE sector, which has the capacity of the UK, Canada and Australia combined, has the potential to enroll two million international students by 2030.

He said, “We don’t need to build more universities. We don’t need more accommodation. There are 200 million fewer US domestic students applying to university and international students can take up that space. We’ve never been in this position before.” He also highlighted increased opportunity within the US community college space. Leveraging rising interest in community colleges was explored in a stand-alone session, chaired by Yasir Ansari from Simpled.

The US’s readiness for an international education strategy was openly discussed in a session hosted by IDP Education , featuring AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management , NAFSA Association of International Educators and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions (AACRAO). In late 2023, the collective conducted a wide-reaching, cross-sector survey of 405 institutions asking whether a national strategy should be introduced, with a majority agreeing one was needed if the US is to maintain its position as a leading destination for international students, preferably developed and implemented by an independent cross-sector body.

There was more data collection and analysis from the IIE as they officially released their Open Doors report during the conference. Cheryl Delk-Le Good , Executive Director of US language school association EnglishUSA , also shared some data-driven insights to assist strategic planning and recruitment for IEPs, including the results of a flash survey of members that analyzed Spring 2023 and Spring 2024 trends.

Forty per cent of EUSA flash survey respondents agreed that enrolments had increased over Spring 2023, with a further 27 per cent noting numbers had remained about the same. The survey also complemented IIE’s findings that students studying on B visitor visas had increased, up five per cent on the previous year, according to survey respondents.

Education-related travel now accounts for US$41.8 billion in US export revenue, up 10 per cent in 2023, according to Rachel Alarid, a representative from the International Trade Administration – US Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, Brazil and Colombia continue to send the most language training students to the United States, she highlighted, and language training continues to be a significant component of non-immigrant student and exchange visitors. A new market diversification tool enabling institutions to search for and compare markets most relevant to their recruitment needs was announced during the session.

The State of Student Recruitment was measured by the Keystone Education Group in its survey of 27,500 prospective students earlier this year. The most popular destination for study was the UK, which grew 33 per cent over 2023 and saw it leapfrog the US and Canada. However, the US remained top for those seeking bachelor’s degrees. Barriers to international study largely fixated around political uncertainty and affordability, acutely in the US.

Tackling the subagent dilemma: Quality vs Quantity Recruitment was discussed in a panel session led by ICEF. The session aimed to look at the rapid rise of agent aggregator platforms and the position they are taking in international student recruitment. Presenters agreed that more oversight is needed, but not necessarily government oversight, and that institutions should also be held accountable for sub agent contracts.

Meanwhile, new research by Studyportals B.V. and the British Council looked to map English-taught Programs (ETP) outside of the ‘big four’ (US, UK, Australia and Canada). According to the report, there has been a 48 per cent increase in ETP offerings since 2019, with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) offering the lion’s share of ETP programs, followed by East Asia. As of March 2024, top destinations offering an above average supply of ETPs were Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, with Mediterranean countries like Turkey, Portugal and Italy beginning to establish themselves as strong ETP suppliers.

Next year’s NAFSA conference and EXPO will be hosted in San Diego from May 27 – May 30, 2025.